Reoriented Bird Migration in Coastal Areas: Dispersal to Suitable Resting Grounds?

It is suggested that migrating birds with a small storage of fuel reverse their flight direction when encountering the sea coast. They fly away from the immediate vicinity of the coast to land, in order to refuel and rest before the crossing. Resting at the coast itself would entail low availability of food, heavy competition and predation. Observations of reoriented migration in coastal areas of both nocturnal and diurnal migrants lend tentative support to this suggestion.